Summary of Bury My Heart and Wounded Knee

The US Government treated the Dakota unfairly and poorly. The indian agents tricked the Dakota into signing the treaties, that stated that they will get money and goods. The Dakota were threatened to sign the treaties. The money from the Dakota were given to the US Government, thinking that they’ll get money back. The US Government never did, leaving the Indians poor and upset. After being tricked, the Dakota were put into reservations. Dakota people were living in prison like “homes” where they were shortened on their needs. Living in reservations, the Dakota were starving to death, although the Indian agents didn’t care. The Dakota were forced to leave their culture behind and become like white settlers.

Most Americans have at least some vague image of the Trail of Tears, but not very many know of the events that led to that tragic removal of several thousand Indians from their homeland. Indian lands were held hostage by the states and the federal government, and Indians had to agree to removal to preserve their identity as tribes. Trail of Tears is an excellent snapshot of a particular situation and will be eye opening to those who are not familiar with the story of the southern tribes and their interactions with the burgeoning American population. The Trail of Tears has become the symbol in American history that signifies the callousness of American policy makers toward American Indians in 1839 and 1839.

In mythology from all around the world, there is usually a point where humans decide not to listen to a divine being which leads to trouble, and this tale is no different. The people disobey Grandmother Spider, and they decide to first head toward the mountains in the east since they seemed closest. When they get there, many of them are killed by the Comanches, which is why the area is called the Mountains of Blood. Many people also die when they head toward the cold north, and they cannot stay in the west either. Eventually, they head toward the middle land again, and there are only two of them left (Marriott, Rachlin 69-70). This part of the story once again helps to explain the world surrounding the Pueblo people. It shows the origin of how one of the mountains got its name. It is also evident that the Pueblo people viewed the Comanche people they met as violent and antagonistic. This was probably inspired by real life dealings and tensions that they had with the other culture. Many Native

Once the men were ready, they all went walking towards the “whites village,” chanting our tribes incantation:''Tous des sauvages, des sauvages!" The whole tribe was chanting back and forth. While the tribe was marching their way over there, I tagged along but hiding behind them. In order for my father not to see me because although he is my father when it comes to choosing to be a commander and a father he will choose to be a commander instead. Then realized John was not with his people. He ended up finding me and explained to me what had happened, that his father was informed from one of his informers that John had fallen in love with a Native American and his dad then became furious. I explained what I told my dad and how I felt, after we united we decided to try to talk to our fathers while they were at

Once the Sioux figured out that they now had a chance to push the Ponca’s out of Indian Territory, that’s just what they did. They took their crops, horses, and gave many threats towards them. The third most famous war called the Great Sioux war began in 1876. Although the U.S. government had won the war, it still didn’t mean they would stop pleasing the Sioux. The U.S. government gave what was left of the Ponca land to the Sioux. The treaty they made with the Ponca’s was completely broken. They cheated the Ponca Indians, and they were furious. In January 1877, Edward C. Kemble asked the Ponca’s to let him speak during church service. He told them that the government had given their fields and farm to the Sioux for a greater purpose. He also told them that they be getting new virgin lands in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). By this time the there only 738 Ponca Indians in the tribe, which meant they were not much of a force to the federal government.

​The Great Sioux War or The Black Hills War (1876- 1877) was a series of battles trying to force the Sioux and Cheyenne people back into the Great Sioux Reservation. In 1868, the Treaty of Laramie was signed by Sioux leaders to give up their lands and move west onto the reservations. In 1874 LTC George Custer was tasked to reconnoiter the Black Hills (part of the Sioux reservation). His primary task was to survey the land and look for natural resources during a time of great economic depression. After the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, rumors spread and miners flooded into the hills. Lakota Warrior, Crazy Horse, led many attacks on LTC Custer’s surveying parties in the hills. Crazy Horse and his warriors were trying to keep the white

The Trail of Tears is one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the United States for many reasons. This chain of expulsions forced Indian populations from their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States to settle in a region west of the Mississippi River that had been selected as Indian Territory. Encouraged by white settlers, the U.S. government suddenly ruled that it was time for the Indians to sacrifice land that they had called home for thousands of years. Stricken with a hunger for gold and a thirst for territorial expansion, the Anglo people betrayed their Indian neighbors. The sequence of forced removals were made possible by numerous government powers

Brown mainly relies on historical research while writing the manuscript for “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee”. He studied personal descriptions, historical documents, and town council records to create a historically accurate account on how Americans conquered the West. While writing this book, Brown mainly writes about the events of the “Indian Wars”, which occurred during 1860’s through the 1890’s.

Next up were the Chickasaws. They were promised land and protection in exchange for their cooperation, but the War Department refused to hold up their end of the deal. The entire group of Natives were forced to leave their land without any benefits, and they ended up having to pay to live on another tribe’s land (PBS.org).

The book Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee was written by Dee Brown. Dee Brown wrote a handful of books and the central theme around those books were tales of Native Americans and civil war stories. He spent a long time studying different tribes all around the United States. He has brought out the voice of the Native Americans which was muffled and silenced by the army and government. This book brought much awareness to a cause many had forgotten about, and to the shock of many when they realized he was not a Native American. Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee tells the stories of many Native American tribes and their hardships when facing the government, army, and settlers. While reading this book, I came to quite a shock. I learned the point of view that was hidden in history books, the loss instead of the win, and the sadness felt throughout the book that made it unpleasant to read. I believe this book has brought to light the mistreatment of Native Americans in the past, the main hardships including countless false treaties, harsh treatments from the settlers, and the unjust massacres. I found this book to be quite a difficult read but incredibly worth it. It is written in such a manner that you feel immersed, you feel the all the emotions and imagine how everything came to be. It is figurative, but also incredibly factual. In the beginning of almost every chapter, before the actual start, there is small paragraph with the year and the events in that following year, a quote, or

The Sand Creek massacre, known as “Chivington massacre,” that began on November 29, 1864, in Colorado Territory. This massacre, was stricken by a Colorado U.S Volunteer Cavalry led by John M. Chivington, attacked and easily destroyed a village of the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The Native Americans death totaled in an estimate of 70-160 deaths. Mostly, it was women and children who took part of these casualties. As the people wonder, why all of this just for a piece of the Great Plains of the Eastern Colorado. As the west wins, a step closer to Manifest

Most Americans have at least some vague understanding of the Trail of Tears, but not many know about the events that led to that tragic removal of thousands of Indians from their homeland. Indian lands were held hostage by the states and the federal government. The Indians had to agree to removal to maintain their tribe identities. Trail of Tears is an excellent example of a particular situation and will be eye opening to those who are not familiar with the story of the southern tribes and their interactions with the rapidly growing American population. The Trail of Tears has become the symbol in American history that indicates the callousness, insensitivity, and cruelty of American government toward American Indians in 1839 and 1839.

Custer’s death and defeat at Little Bighorn, led the Army to change its tactics. The troops surrounded villages of Red Cloud and Red Leaf. There, they arrested and confined the leaders, holding them responsible for failing to turn in those from hostile bands. After, the tribal leaders finally signed a new treaty giving the Black Hills to the United States (Keenan 213).

The movie, filmed in 2007, depicts the lives of the Sioux Indians as if they were not a people that mattered. In the movie, they say, “the Indians lived like the poorest of whites.” They were pushed around and told repeatedly they could not stay on their own land. This was due to the Westward Expansion in the United States at the time. By 1876, most of the American Indians had already been forcibly relocated to reservation land. Red Cloud, a Sioux leader, settled with some of his tribe on the Sioux Reservation of the Dakota Territory and took the aid of the US government. When this happened, other Sioux leaders, such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, saw it as a surrender. These leaders refused to assimilate and went on to live life in their traditional way. Unfortunately, this all changed when the US found gold on Sioux land in the Black Hills. The movie tells the story of the Sioux Indians fight to try to remain in control of their own lives and stay on their own land. Then when they no longer can, the movie shows their path to surrendering to the whites and assimilating into the American culture.

The Black Hawk War A short while ago in 1832 a Man named Black Hawk and his thousands of Sauk and Fox warriors were attacked by an army of 1200 militiamen across the Mississippi they were slaughtered men, women, and children of all ages, many were killed, but the battles rage on for a great while Black Hawk is still alive, he is seeking out a way to get back his land and get back at the whites who had taken a treaty too a non superior group of his men and they signed the treaty drunk and not knowing what they were doing gave up all their land west of the Mississippi. In 1804 a group of white settlers came over the Mississippi land and brought a treaty to a group of young Sauk and Fox tribal members. The white settlers said that they would